Fair American by rafine - Model Shipways - Kitbashed

[russ]

Bob:

The rigging came out beautifully. One detail I really like is the rope coils. They drape really nicely.

 

Russ

[rafine]

Figuerres:  You're right about the lantern. See below.

 

Thanks, Russ. If you do enough of those coils, you start to get the hang of it.

 

Final details and the finished model:  Although they weren't actually the very last items done, I'm treating the lantern, the anchors and the flagstaff as the final details. The lantern was made from an old street lamp that I found in my model railroad scrap box. The lamp portion was heavily reworked and the brackets were made from brass rod and brass strip. The anchors were made using the kit castings with the stocks made from boxwood. The cable was run back over the bitts back to the main hatch. The anchor bouys were made from pieces of tapered dowel and then rigged. The flag staff is shown on the plans, although it seems awkward with the boom. I chose to install it mostly because I liked the way it looked. 

 

Photos of the finished model follow the photos of the final detail work.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Hi Bob,

 

Your build was a pleasure to follow and you work is simply stunning. Well done!

[russ]

It is a very handsome model. Lots of great detail and so very well executed. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Russ

[augie]

Beautiful work Bob.  Thanks for getting her back in the forum.

[john46]

A masterpiece Bob, thanks for sharing. It was a real pleasure to read your log.

 

Regards,

John

[aliluke]

Hi Bob

Great to see this build back here. A stunning model and a benchmark for Fair American or any other kit for that matter. Utterly beautiful work. Thank you for sharing. I will return to ths log often to be inspired and to admire.

 

Cheers

Alistair

[rafine]

Thanks, all for the overly generous comments. I think that I'll try to get my other prior logs up as well.

 

Bob

[augie]

Syren would be nice    

[Blue Ensign]

I've enjoyed looking thro' your  build  Bob, a fine looking model.

 

I like what you've done with her, nice combination of timbers and colour scheme.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[rafine]

Thanks, B.E.

 

Augie, if Syren is what you want, then Syren is what you'll get.

 

Bob

[augie]

It's not for me......... but for everyone.   She deserves it

[EdatWycliffe]

Great photos and log. It will be very helpful!
Perhaps you can help me with a couple of questions regarding coamings and grating on Fair American. I just finished planking the hull, my first pob ship. (I recently completed Phantom, my first ship ever and had so much enjoyment that I've become an enthusiast.) I've run into a problem with the plans/part list--the hatch coamings. I want to build and install the coamings and grating before laying the deck pad, but I can't figure out what the parts list means by the 3/32 x 3/32 "upper" hatch coaming and the 5/32 x 5/32 "lower" hatch coaming. Also there is an unnamed part on the parts list below the lower hatch coaming that is 3/16 x 3/16. I can't tell if that is a part of the coaming construction. In short, how do I construct the coamings for the fore and aft hatches?Also, is the plan accurate w/r/t the number of horizontal and vertical pieces in the grating? I'd be truly appreciative of the help. Thanks.

[rafine]

Edatwycliffe:  Thanks. Since I substituted all the wood, I never referred to the parts list. I got my dimensions from measuring the plans, but don't remember what size they were. I do recall that both hatches were done with the same size wood and that I made them with lap joints at the corners. The gratings were made from ME cherry grating strips whose size I don't recall, but I believe they matched the plan closely. I hope that helps.

 

Bob

[KenW]

I have a question regarding the placement of the guns.

I see that you have only one stairway and one door into the cabin.  Using the plans I see that the aft guns block the doors; and firing the guns would completely destroy the stairs.  Also, your aft gun is not as close to the cabin 'panel' as the plans show.

How did you determine where to place the guns?

And was your center keel the correct length as per the plans?

Thanks.

[Timothy Wood]

She looks great!

[EdatWycliffe]

Thanks, Bob. It does help. Ed.

[EdatWycliffe]

She's absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[rafine]

Thanks, guys. 

 

Ken:  There were many questions about the plans. Remember that the model is taken from a model, not from plans of an actual ship. I made some changes where I thought them appropriate. One of those changes was to move the bulkhead aft slightly to make more room for the last gun. I omitted one door and one ladder because it just seemed too crowded for a ship of this size. The gun placement generally followed the plans, although I enlarged the gun ports which altered the spacing very slightly.

 

Bob

[jastrząb]

Hello, this one of my favourite building logs. A very precise work and neat at the same time. I wish I could achieve this level of accuracy. 

Can't wait to see more. 

Well-done!!!!

[figuerres]

Thanks, guys. 

 

Ken:  There were many questions about the plans. Remember that the model is taken from a model, not from plans of an actual ship. I made some changes where I thought them appropriate. One of those changes was to move the bulkhead aft slightly to make more room for the last gun. I omitted one door and one ladder because it just seemed too crowded for a ship of this size. The gun placement generally followed the plans, although I enlarged the gun ports which altered the spacing very slightly.

 

Bob

 

I agree, the doors and ladders - just one of each for this size seems better. and trying to fit the last 2 cannons so close to the plans great cabin also seems to be something that would not work in a real ship, make the cabin a bit smaller and then they fit and should work.

[KenW]

Thanks.

My thoughts were the  same as yours.  I remembered that this is a model created from a model.

I will have to give it more consideration.  I am not at that point in my build yet, so I do have time.

I also agree with you and Figuerres that two stairs and two doors makes things pretty crowded.

 

Thanks again.

Edited July 22, 2013 by KenW

[KenW]

I still am in awe of your model.  I also notice now that you placed the housing wall almost at BHD 13 rather that on BHD12.

Can you give me a more detailed explanation of your, "built-up fixed blocks using stripwood boxes with dowel slice sheaves"?

Thanks.

[rafine]

The fixed blocks are really quite simple. They are made up of 4 pieces of stripwood to form the sides of a box. The sheaves were made from slices of dowel sized to fit the opening and glued in place. The assembly fits in a slot created in the framing and was left thick enough to allow for the planking, inside and out. It was sanded flush on the outside after planking. I don't have any photos of the assembly itself, but some of the photos of the framing and planking show it pretty well (see pg 1 of this log). I hope that helps.

 

Bob

[EdatWycliffe]

Bob, two questions about your decking that looks fabulous. 1. Did you cut the planks to length or are they full runs with creases to simulate cuts to length? And

2. What rule did you use for measuring the plank lengths as you crosse the deck from S to P? I'd like to attempt the same look. Thanks much.

 

Ed

[rafine]

The deck planks were cut to length. Full length planks were 20-30 feet in length with the joints falling on the bulkheads. I used a three step butt shift. I hope that helps.

 

Bob

[KenW]

Another question - On the plans and center keel, it looks like the foremast is perpendicular to the water line while the mainmast is angled aft.

Your model looks like you changed that angle of the mainmast.

Did you? 

And what are your thoughts?

Thanks.

[EdatWycliffe]

Bob, soon I'll be ready to add the covering board over the waterway. The plans seem to require the covering board to lie on top of the waterway parallel to the deck. The photos of your ship appear to place the covering board along the waterway at an angle with the bottom touching the deck. Is that an illusion? Did you use stock wider than 1/8 inch?

 

Your photos and your advice are terrific. Thanks.

 

Ed

[rafine]

Ken: I didn't change the angle of either mast. I used the slots in the center keel. There seemed to be no reason to make a change.

 

Ed: I changed what is shown on the plans, following the ideas of Pete Jaquith, whose log appeared on the old site. I don't recall the exact reasoning, but he had substituted a waterway and margin planks for the coverboard arrangement  shown on the plans. As you can see from my photos, the waterway butts against the frames and the margin planks butt against the waterway, laying on the tops of the bulkheads and level with the deck planking. I believe that I cut the margin planks to a width of 3/16". which matches the width of my deck planks.

 

I'm happy to be of any help to both of you.

 

Bob

[EdatWycliffe]

Thanks much, Bob. I just finished deck planking, including the pad, using the 1/8 stock supplied with the kit. The ship would have looked better with the 3/16 planking without the deck pad. For this ship, I'll test out a 3/16 margin, but I'll probably end up building the waterway per the plans if I can't get it to look right. Also, even though I used 1/8 stock, I'm going to try to emulate butt joints on the deck by creasing the planks per your plan and simulating tree nails with a #78 drill bit and Elmer's walnut wood filer. I'll attach some photos when I've completed these next steps. I appreciate the help.

 

Ed